Oklahoma: Teacher asserts he was terminated for advocating for LGBT youth

[ccharles000]

From the land of homo-hating, illegal pistol-packing state legislator Sally Kern...read and decide which side is more likely to be telling the truth in this case.
Teacher Joseph Quigley of Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, who is also gay, found himself at a termination hearing recently. School Board Superintendent Karl Springer's recommended the termination of Quigley, who has been with the school district since 1994, because "he wasn't following plans for improvement and didn't obey administrative directives."

Quigley's attorneys say otherwise:

"The attempt to fire Mr. Quigley, a career teacher with a stellar record, appears to be driven by some administrators after he advocated for better protections for gay and lesbian students. The legal counsel for OKCPS has relied on trumped up and exaggerated charges to make the case for his dismissal. In fact, Mr. Quigley was the subject of harassment and false charges merely because of his advocacy for gay and lesbian students and/or the fact that he is gay."
MetroStar News, an Oklahoma LGBT newspaper, reports that Quigley received consistent high marks on his evaluations for a decade -- that clearly doesn't indicate someone was unhappy with his performance in the classroom.
What did Quigley "do wrong" in the eyes of the school? Perhaps this sheds some light on the matter:

He stated that the administration "singled him out, applied a double standard, micromanaged him and has instituted a relentless scorched earth policy to get rid of him." He also pointed out that it wasn't until after 2007 that his evaluations showed him to be substandard, when Ms. Walling became his evaluator. It was clarified that his evaluations suddenly went down after 2006 , after Joe advocated the inclusion of "sexual orientation" among the groups listed in the Student Handbook to be protected from harassment and bullying.

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/11352/oklahoma-teacher-asserts-he-was-terminated-for-advocating-for-lgbt-youth

[BoneDaddy]

1. I smell a very strong lawsuit and alot of money

coming for this courageous man.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's 100% legal to fire someone for being gay in OK

It's legal in many states. That's why we need ENDA.

[BoneDaddy]

5. I would imagine that he has tenure

and it would be a violation of his contract. What a shame though.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. Lots of contracts involve "morality" clauses

[BoneDaddy]

17. For his sake I hope there is no

draconian feature like that.

[madokie]

9. Easy now

we have asshole just like any state does, your own wherever the hell that is. A few assholes does not a state make

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Easy now -- I'm just stating that it is perfectly legal to fire someone for being gay in OK

That's a legal fact.

I'm in NJ. It's illegal here.

[madokie]

12. My bad I didn't know that

been here all my life and had a lesbian teacher in high school. Two old ladies who claimed to be sisters but we all knew the truth and cared less. blow me over

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. It's okay

Yeah, you're teacher was just lucky nobody cared.

[LostinVA]

11. "easy now" what? She didn't insult OK, she just stated the law

My sister and her family live in OK, and even they know it's pretty nuts -- the school system my niece and nephew are in doesn't teach evolution. And, they live in a pretty big city.

[madokie]

13. Nuts for sure

my bad for not knowing that, sorry

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. Brave is right

Not all of Oklahoma is homophobic but there are parts...

[ccharles000]

4. kick

[Heidi]

6. There is absolutely no excuse for this to be happening in the capitol city

of the state where I grew up and which I left (for crap like this) when I was 20. The reason there is no excuse is that Oklahoma, however much the resta y'all might hate it, has deep pockets of liberals/progressives in some areas who know that kids, whether they're gay, straight, bi, black, white, Native, Latino/a, Asian or whatever need advocates _very_ badly in Oklahoma.

Go, Mr. Quigley. If anyone knows how I can help Mr. Quigley, send me a PM. The ol' boys network is hard at work in persecuting Mr. Quigley and, by extension, the kids for whom he's advocating. Community standards do not negate human rights. :grr:

[blogslut]

7. It's a "Rachel's Challenge" school

In other words, I'm not surprised.

I hope Mr. Quigley gets justice.

[Sabriel]

8. This is one of the ways admin goes after teachers

For one thing, they can set up ridiculous standards and then nail you when you don't meet them. Or give you the worst possible schedule of classes and harass you about pointless shit until you leave on your own.
Been there, seen that.

Where are the parents picketing the meeting in support of Mr. Quigley?

[Wednesdays]

16. K&R

:kick: